Surah Hud · سُوْرَةُ هُوْدٍ · Juz 12
Q 11:102
وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَآ أَخَذَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ وَهِىَ ظَـٰلِمَةٌ ۚ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُۥٓ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ
Translations
And thus is the seizure of your Lord when He seizes the cities while they are committing wrong. Indeed, His seizure is painful and severe.Telle est la rigueur de la prise de ton Seigneur quand Il frappe les cités lorsqu'elles sont injustes. Son châtiment est bien douloureux et bien dur.Tafsir
Such is the grip and annihilation with which Allah seizes the towns that deny, in every time and place. His grip of such disobedient towns is a painful and strong one.
Read Ibn Kathir (Ibn Kathir (abridged, English))
Such is the punishment of your Lord when He seizes the (population of) towns while they are doing wrong. Verily, His punishment is painful (and) severe.) It is as though Allah is saying, "Just as We have destroyed these wicked generations who rejected their Messengers, We will do the same to any who are like them (102)
إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ
(Verily, His punishment is painful (and) severe.) In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that Abu Musa said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
إِنَّ اللهَ لَيُمْلِي لِلظَّالِمِ حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَهُ لَمْ يُفْلِتْهُ
(Verily, Allah gives respite to a wrongdoer until He seizes him and he cannot escape.) Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited,
وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ الْقُرَىٰ وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ
(Such is the punishment of your Lord when He seizes the towns while they are doing wrong.)
Arabic text: Tanzil (Uthmani). Translations: Sahih International (en), Muhammad Hamidullah (fr). tanzil.net